The cedars of Lebanon are a real tree: a large evergreen, Cedrus libani, that grows wild high in the mountains of the eastern Mediterranean.1Wikipedia. Cedrus libani The phrase also names something older than any single tree, a forest whose wood ancient kingdoms traded, built with and wrote about for more than 4,000 years.2Acta Horticulturae. What Are the Cedars of Lebanon? Today the tree sits at the centre of Lebanon’s flag, while the country’s last cedar forests face real pressure.3Acta Horticulturae. What Are the Cedars of Lebanon?
What Kind of Tree the Cedar of Lebanon Is
Cedrus libani belongs to the pine family, the same family as pines, firs and spruces.4Wikipedia. Cedrus libani It is an evergreen conifer, so cedar forests stay green under deep winter snow. The word “cedar” is the confusing part. It gets attached to junipers, cypresses and other trees with fragrant wood, and the cedar chests and closets sold in North America are usually made from juniper or thuja, not Cedrus. Many of the “cedars” in a North American yard, such as red cedars, are not true cedars at all.
Its true relatives are few: the Atlas cedar of North Africa, the Cyprus cedar and the Himalayan deodar.5Quarterly Journal of Forestry. Cedrus, True Cedars Silviculture and properties The Atlas, Cyprus and Lebanon cedars are so similar that experts still debate whether they are separate species or varieties of one.6Quarterly Journal of Forestry. Cedrus, True Cedars Silviculture and properties
Two or three types are recognised within the species, including the Cyprus form, though not all experts accept the third.7Wikipedia. Cedrus libani The Lebanon cedar and the Cyprus cedar split apart roughly 7 million years ago.8PubMed Central. Phylogeny and Biogeography of Cedrus (Pinaceae) Inferred from Sequences of Seven Paternal Chloroplast and Maternal Mitochondrial DNA Regions
Where the Cedars of Lebanon Grow Wild
Wild cedars grow in Turkey, Lebanon and Syria, and some sources include Cyprus for the related Cyprus form.9waldwissen.net. What Are the Cedars of Lebanon More than half of all the world’s wild cedar forest is in Turkey, covering about 482,000 hectares.10waldwissen.net. What Are the Cedars of Lebanon In Turkey’s Taurus Mountains, where it is often called the Taurus cedar, it grows from about 800 to 2,100 metres above sea level.11waldwissen.net. What Are the Cedars of Lebanon
Lebanon’s cedars survive mostly as scattered patches on the upper slopes of Mount Lebanon, not as a continuous forest. The tree’s fame comes from Lebanon because ancient writers and traders knew it from there, not because Lebanon holds most of the trees.
The climate is tough. The tree copes with summers that may bring only 50 to 100 mm of rain, and at higher altitudes mountain fog softens the drought.12waldwissen.net. What Are the Cedars of Lebanon? Lower, hotter slopes are harder going, because of drought and competition from other plants.
Above about 1,000 metres winter rain falls as snow, which can lie up to two metres deep until April.13waldwissen.net. What Are the Cedars of Lebanon? The cedar’s spreading branches bear that weight well.14waldwissen.net. What Are the Cedars of Lebanon? It still needs at least 500 to 600 mm of precipitation a year to grow.15waldwissen.net. What Are the Cedars of Lebanon? The trees can survive winter cold down to about -21.5 °C.16European Journal of Forest Research. Intraspecific variability in cold hardiness of Taurus cedar (Cedrus libani A. Rich.) in Türkiye Populations from colder, drier places tend to be slightly hardier, but the difference is under 2 °C.17European Journal of Forest Research. Intraspecific variability in cold hardiness of Taurus cedar (Cedrus libani A. Rich.) in Türkiye
If you want to visit the Lebanese groves, they sit high on Mount Lebanon, so expect cool air and possible snow outside summer. Reserves such as Tannourine and the grove near Bsharry are among the best known, and two cedar forests have been designated National Heritage Sites, one of them mixed with other conifers. For far larger forests, head to the Taurus Mountains in Turkey.
How to Recognize a Cedar of Lebanon
Young trees are cone or pyramid shaped, much like a Christmas tree, so a sapling in a nursery or garden does not yet show the famous flat layers.18Virginia Tech Dendrology. cedar of Lebanon With age the crown widens and the branches spread into flat horizontal layers.19Virginia Tech Dendrology. cedar of Lebanon
Mature trees reach about 40 metres tall with trunks up to 2.5 metres across, often forking low down.20Conifers.org. Cedrus libani The bark becomes blackish brown, scaly and deeply grooved as the tree ages.21Conifers.org. Cedrus libani
Needles are short, about 2 to 2.5 cm, growing in dense tufts of 20 to 35 on short side shoots.22Conifers.org. Cedrus libani Their colour runs from light to dark green, sometimes with a blue-grey tinge.23Conifers.org. Cedrus libani Seed cones sit upright on the branches like small barrels, usually 8 to 12 cm long.24Conifers.org. Cedrus libani Each cone takes two years to mature, turning from green and purplish to reddish or grey-brown.25Virginia Tech Dendrology. cedar of Lebanon Then it breaks apart on the branch, releasing winged seeds and leaving a central spike.26Conifers.org. Cedrus libani On a walk, check whether cones stand upright on top of the branches rather than hanging, and look for tufts of needles instead of single needles or scales.
In a park, the lookalikes are the deodar and the Atlas cedar. Deodars have drooping branch tips and longer, softer needles. Atlas cedars often have bluish needles and more upward-angled branches. The Lebanon cedar’s flat, tabletop tiers are the strongest clue on an old tree.
Why the Cedars Were Prized in the Ancient World
Ancient Egypt highly prized Lebanese cedar for buildings, ships and furniture.27History Archive. Egyptian and Phoenician Trade Egypt had no comparable large timber of its own. Cedar comes from very large trees, so builders could get long, straight beams that smaller trees could not supply. The wood is fragrant and resists decay, which suited temples, palaces and ships meant to last. And because the cedars grew on mountains near the Mediterranean coast, timber could be dragged downhill and shipped by sea to places short of good wood.
Egyptians used cedar for more than planks. Resin found beside one Egyptian mummy was traced to cedar oil, showing cedar was used in embalming.28Zeitschrift für Naturforschung C. Effective Mummification Compounds Used in Pharaonic Egypt: Reactivity on Bone Alkaline Phosphatase
The trees also became part of the world’s oldest stories. The Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest written tales, describes a hero felling a sacred cedar forest. The Bible repeatedly mentions cedars of Lebanon, including in the building of Solomon’s temple. These texts made the trees a lasting symbol of strength and grandeur, and that long history of use is why a cedar now stands at the centre of the Lebanese flag, representing endurance and identity.
People have cut cedar forests on Mount Lebanon for about 8,000 years, starting with Stone Age farmers using flint axes.29Journal of Arid Environments. Environmental changes in Lebanon during the Holocene: Man vs. climate impacts Pollen preserved in the ground suggests cutting slowed during the Bronze Age.30Harvard University History and Economics. What Are the Cedars of Lebanon? That challenges the popular idea that the Egyptians stripped the mountains bare. Clearing and grazing picked up again about 2,000 years ago and increased into modern times.31Journal of Arid Environments. Environmental changes in Lebanon during the Holocene: Man vs. climate impacts
Are the Cedars of Lebanon Endangered
A tree that lives near the top of a mountain has little room to move upward as temperatures rise, because the summit is the end of the slope. Climate models project that by 2100 only three areas of Mount Lebanon may still suit the cedar.32PubMed. Cedrus libani distribution in Lebanon: past, present and future Syrian cedar forests are also threatened by warming.33PubMed. Cedrus libani distribution in Lebanon: past, present and future Forests in southern Turkey appear less threatened,34PubMed. Cedrus libani distribution in Lebanon: past, present and future since the mountains there are larger and offer more suitable ground.
Insects add to the problem. In the late 1990s a web-spinning sawfly attacked 70% of one of Lebanon’s largest cedar populations.35Biodiversity. Managing climate change effects on relic forest ecosystems: A program for Lebanese Cedar The outbreak has been linked to climate change.36PubMed Central. Bioexploration and Phylogenetic Placement of Entomopathogenic Fungi of the Genus Beauveria in Soils of Lebanon Cedar Forests It now threatens major groves including Tannourine, Hadeth El Jebbeh and Bsharry.37Biodiversity. Managing climate change effects on relic forest ecosystems: A program for Lebanese Cedar
There is some reason for hope. Planted young cedars survived and grew well far below their natural range in Lebanon, which means the tree can grow across an elevation band about twice as wide as where it grows wild today.38Diversity and Distributions. Surprisingly wide climatic niche breadth of a relict mountain species raises hope for survival under climate change Very low sites still limit young trees through drought and competition.39Diversity and Distributions. Surprisingly wide climatic niche breadth of a relict mountain species raises hope for survival under climate change The species itself is not close to vanishing, since Turkey’s huge forests act as a safety net, but Lebanon’s own groves are vulnerable.
How People Are Restoring Cedar Forests
Many Lebanese projects replant land around reserves to create a corridor joining separate cedar groves.40Forêt Méditerranéenne. Cedrus libani au Liban Pollen and seed can move between groves, which helps each population stay healthy, and wildlife can pass through too.
Planters are urged to use native plants from the region, and restoring a mixed natural forest is recommended over planting cedar alone.41Forêt Méditerranéenne. Cedrus libani au Liban Mixed forests tend to resist pests and disease that would spread more easily through a single species, other native trees and shrubs support soils and wildlife, and the result better matches the conditions cedars evolved with.
Past plantings sometimes failed, so seed is now chosen from good parent stands and nursery methods have been improved.42Forêt Méditerranéenne. Cedrus libani au Liban Genetics guide the choice. Turkish cedars hold high genetic diversity, split into five distinct regional groups across the Taurus Mountains.43European Journal of Forest Research. The spatial genetic structure and diversity of cedar (Cedrus sp.) from Türkiye and Cyprus: evidence from nSSRs Using seed from local groups helps keep each region’s adapted trees.
Cedars of Lebanon in Parks and Gardens
The first cedars of Lebanon reached Britain from seed collected in Syria in 1638 to 1639.44Wikipedia. Cedrus libani A tree planted in 1646 at Childrey rectory is Britain’s oldest surviving one.45Wikipedia. Cedrus libani Travellers brought seed back to many Western European parks, where trees have lived for centuries,46Arboricultural Journal. THE CULTIVATION OF THE CEDAR OF LEBANON IN WESTERN EUROPEAN PARKS AND GARDENS FROM THE 17TH TO THE 19TH CENTURY so every old specimen traces back to wild trees in the Middle East. Today it is widely planted in parks and gardens.47Wikipedia. Cedrus libani
To spot an old one, try historic estates and botanic gardens. Look for broad, flat-topped trees standing alone on lawns, and check labels for Cedrus libani.
Growing one yourself takes room, because the tree spreads wide with age. It tolerates drought once established but needs good yearly moisture to grow. Expect slow growth, with the classic layered shape arriving only after decades.